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Iconian
, | Planet = Iconia | Affiliation = Iconian Empire | Warp capable = yes | Classification = humanoid | Environmental = class M | Icon1 = | biology = unknown | Distinctive Features = 6 eyes | altimage = iconian.jpg }} The Iconians are an ancient and highly advanced civilization native to the planet Iconia in the Beta Quadrant, the founders and rulers of the Iconian Empire. Physiology By the 25th century, and probably millennia before that, the Iconians had evolved/altered themselves in such a way that they were partially energy beings, capable of using their own "essence" to power up different types of equipment, such as their Gateway technology. Despite this incredible capability, using their own energy for such purposes could be dangerous and even deadly. They were apparently immortal beings, not being affected by aging. However, time itself had a very unusual effect on their minds, as they were chroniton-based. This meant the Iconians themselves could not travel through time. If an Iconian traveled to the past, their mind would "reshape" to that time period, meaning that all the memories this individual had gained after their arrival would be lost. ( ) Before the fall of their empire 200,000 years ago, the Iconians — not just as a species, but the very same individuals — appeared fully organic. Instead of being able to generate energy blasts, they used weapons similar to the kinds they would later use to arm their Heralds. It was theorized that they altered themselves to become living weapons after their civilization fell. Throughout their history, the Iconians were a small population (apparently only female, with parthenogenic children born rarely) and with lifespans that lasted millennia. At least three and probably all of the twelve survivors of the fall of their empire lived into the 25th century. Whether this was entirely due to natural lifespan or augmented by their medical technology is unclear. History Origin The Iconians were the first species on worlds seeded by the s to arise to sentience, and at some point came to know their creators. ( ) The ascendancy of the Iconian race began thousands of years ago, when their race made use of the Dream Gem to develop their Gateway technology. ( ) What was unknown to many was that the Q Continuum had a certain fondness for the race and provided them the means to create gateways with the most casual piece of their technology in order for them to reach other worlds in the Milky Way galaxy. ( ) Using this technology, they formed the Iconian Empire which spread across space. During the deployment of the network, they discovered the existence of a race of beings that dwelt within the Bajoran wormhole. Out of respect for these entities, the Iconians did not deploy any gateways within ten light-years of the wormhole or those worlds that the entities watched over. ( ) Always few in number, the Iconians uplifted a semi-sentient species from their planet and called them "the Heralds", using them as servants and trusted companions. The Heralds showed gratitude to the Iconians they served. Iconian civilization was believed to have reached its zenith around 200,000 years ago or more, when they had developed the technology to easily spread across the Milky Way. ( ) The Iconians developed a philosophy resembling the Federation's Prime Directive, believing it dangerous to give certain technology to less developed species and also believing that each sentient species had its own destiny. Excessive interference in other species would mean denying them that destiny. Unlike with the Prime Directive, warp travel was not considered a sufficient cultural threshold to receive all advanced knowledge. This led to resentment from some of the less developed species they contacted. ( ) The Iconian philosopher Senega warned her people that the disparity of technology between their race and others would become a source of conflict. Her words were proven true when suspicion and fear motivated other species to unite against the Iconian Empire, to whom they gave the nickname "Demons of Air and Darkness", due to their gateways. ( ) Despite using their technology for benevolent purposes, the other races' fear motivated them to attack the Iconians, which meant that the gateways were the source of the downfall of their civilization. According to ancient stories, various worlds of the galaxy banded together in order to destroy the threat posed by the Iconians. These races journeyed to the homeworld of Iconia where they bombarded its surface, and it was believed that the "Demons of Air and Darkness" were finally destroyed. ( ) During the last days of the Iconian Empire, a group used the Gem to activate the gateway network and take the remnants of their race to other worlds in order to survive. Thus, Iconian settlements were formed on the planets of , and . One of the last of the survivors was Kanda Jiak, who sought to take the Gem to safety, but after entering the gateway, she was instead transported to , where she died and the stone passed to the Vulcan race. Around 200,000 years ago, the Iconians were supposedly wiped out following an orbital bombardment of Iconia. ( ) At the same time, another Iconian, L'Miren, recovered the database of all Iconian knowledge, called the World Heart, with the aid of a 25th century time traveler from the Delta Alliance, who the Iconians would later call "the Other." However, just before L'Miren passed through a gateway to Dewa III, the time traveling former Romulan Empress Sela, seeking revenge for the Iconians' future destruction of Romulus, shot one of the Iconian survivors and took the World Heart. This led another Iconian, T'Ket, to swear vengeance against the Romulan people, leading to the Iconians eventually causing the Hobus supernova. After the surviving Iconians passed through the gateway, the Other took the World Heart from a distraught Sela and bore it through a time portal into the 25th century. ( ) While their homeworld was destroyed, the species survived and secretly lived in remote corners of the galaxy. ( ) History later recorded that the Iconians were a race of brutal conquerors. Among the Iconians, it was believed that one of the things that doomed their civilization was that their gateway technology meant they could no longer actually travel and thus they had lost sight of the journey in their desire to reach their destination. ( ) It was known that no other race had achieved the same level of greatness as the Iconian Empire. In fact, in over two hundred thousand years, no other civilization had come close to recreating the transportation system of the Iconians. ( ) Legacy Though the Iconians were believed to have been extinct, the survivors who moved to various remote colonies had in fact survived and continued to live for thousands of years. A number of Iconians were able to escape to outposts on Ikkabar, DiWahn (also Dewa III), and Dinasia. The climate on Ikkabar proved too unstable to sustain a population, and all but one of the Iconians on Ikkabar died out. The DiWahn and Dinasian climates were more suited for settlement, and the claimed descendants of the Iconians survived on both worlds.( ) One of the last strongholds of the Iconians remained in the Alpha Quadrant, but had been reduced to a primitive state, and it was at this location where the Master Resonator keys were left behind. A faction of the race retained the use of their technology and had left known space in order to be on their own in order to pursue new interests and not to be bothered by other species. They, however, formed a group called the Sentries that were charged with watching over the gateway network. While they retained the use of the technology, these descendants of the Iconians were largely ignorant of their heritage or the workings of their equipment. ( |Doors Into Chaos}}, |Demons of Air and Darkness}}, ) The twelve Iconians who passed through a gateway to Dewa III adapted both themselves and their Heralds into beings specialized in war in order to defend themselves. They also acquired servitor races including the Solanae, the Elachi, and eventually the Vaadwaur. They created the Bluegill parasites as a means of controlling some of their servants, though they did not require all of their servitors to be possessed. Some speculation was held on whether the Guardian of Forever was a product of Iconian technology. Hundreds of worlds hold traces of Iconian influence, or visits, with legends showing their kind as being a conqueror, as well as warmongering, people. However, very little was actually known of the species as their actual history was almost inseparable from folklore. Hundreds of planets held legends of their almost magical technology, and stories painted them as being a warlike species. Some theories, however, held that the Iconians may have been a peaceful race, but were in fact victims who were attacked by those that feared their advanced technology to the point that these other races destroyed what they could not understand. Some even speculated that the descendants of the Iconian race still wandered the galaxy though the identity of them was unknown. By the 24th century, the United Federation of Planets had discovered only a few remains of the Iconian race, though their empire remained an enigma. ( ) In the year 2365, the planet Iconia was discovered by the crew of the who destroyed the gateway on the world as well as disputed the characterization of the species as being Demons of Air and Darkness. ( ) The Iconians also possessed territory in the Gamma Quadrant, such as Vandros IV and its surrounding territory. ( ) During the Gateways Crisis of 2376, the Petraw species masqueraded as the Iconians and activated the gateway network as part of a demonstration in order to sell the technology to the highest bidder. This led to a number of disasters such as the dumping of Theta radiation by a Malon freighter which threatened the Europa Nova colony that was accomplished through a gateway linking the world to the Delta Quadrant. It was only through the effort of Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the , who met with the Sentries, did he find a means of shutting down the system by locating the thirteen resonator keys and deactivating the network. ( ) Both variants of Smyt were Iconian. ( ) Return By the early 25th century, the Iconians were responsible for crossing into Fluidic Space where they attacked the native Undine race. This chain of events saw the Undine being provoked into believing that they had faced hostility from the other universe. As such, the tripedal aliens began a campaign of infiltration and destabilization of the Milky Way Galaxy. Unknown to anyone, this all went in line with the Iconians' plans to set the various races against one another in order to keep them all divided. ( ) In 2409, an investigation was conducted into the Hobus supernova, which led to a trail to Iconia itself. A Romulan Republic captain, following clues from classified Tal Shiar files, discovered a base in the remains of the Hobus system, where Taris was discovered. ( ) Although she escaped from Hobus through an Iconian gateway, a Starfleet vessel working with a Republic agent tracked a Reman commander in Taris's employ from Hobus to a facility on Iconia, where the Starfleet captain captured Taris, and discovered evidence linking her to the Hobus supernova. ( ) Obisek, who headed the Reman Resistance, also learnt that the Tal Shiar had allied themselves with the "Demons of Air and Darkness". He believed that this threat remained in the shadows and intended to get revenge on those that had driven them from their homeworld. ( ) Colonel Hakeev revealed the ties the Tal Shiar had with the Iconians on Nopada Prime along with his goal in finding ways of provoking conflict amongst various races. ( ) After Hakeev's death, a battle erupted at Brea III where Empress Sela's flagship, the IRW Leahval, was seemingly captured by an Iconian ship that had emerged from a gateway. ( ) Following these events, Obisek wondered about the threat the Iconians posed to the galaxy. ( ) This worry was also voiced by Captain Va'Kel Shon during the Borg conference at Deep Space 9. ( ) According to Commander Mesi Achebe, Taris seemingly managed to escape during the riot at Facility 4028 with the apparent aid of the Iconians. ( ) Investigators on New Romulus revealed the ties the planet had with the ancient Iconians. ( ) In 2410, when the Federation and Klingon Empire agreed to cease war after the Undine attacks on Earth and Qo'noS, a female Iconian came through a gateway to give a cryptic warning to the Federation, Klingon Empire and Romulan Republic about things that would happen if they drew the Iconians' attention again. ( ) While following a lead by Sela, who had escaped capture, members of the Alpha Quadrant Alliance entered a Dyson sphere hidden in the Andromeda Galaxy, where they discovered a massive Iconian invasion force inside. The members escaped, though not before the Sphere jumped to a location near the Iconia system. During this mission, Sela revealed that the Iconians themselves cannot travel through time. The arrival of the Alliance and Sela, however, was the last straw, an Iconian warning them that their galaxy was now forfeit. These events would lead to what became known as the Iconian War. ( ) Although many of Heralds died in the war, only one Iconian, M'Tara was killed, and another, T'Ket, lost her arm in combat with Emperor Kahless. ( ) At the war's end, the Other, newly returned through time from the day Iconia fell, offered the World Heart to the Iconians in return for peace. All the Iconians, save for T'Ket, agreed, taking their Heralds and weapons to Iconia. They demanded to be left alone for at least a millennium before being contacted again, and that it be recognized that they would neither help nor hinder continued hostilities on T'Ket's part. ( ) T'Ket's fleet, however, fell into the backdrop as more pressing threats such as the Hur'q came to the forefront. However, her forces movements were tracked by Starfleet Intelligence. Months after the events of the Battle at Midnight, Quark, Rom, Nog, Brunt, and Leck made plans to steal back the Sword of Kahless from T'ket's personal vault on her flagship. The group was successful, despite the treachery of Brunt, who tried to steal the sword from under them. During the mission, Quark and Nog encountered T'Ket herself who was prepared to kill the duo for robbing her. Fortunately, Quark had placed a Hurq lure on her ship. Noting that even Iconian forces would be overwhelmed by the Hurq's numbers, T'Ket was forced to let them go on the condition they disabled the lure. Unfortunately, the control device for the lure was destroyed by the Hurq while Quark and Nog were trying to escape. What became of T'ket and her fleet are unknown. ( ) Appendices Connections References * }} External link * * category:iconians category:races and cultures category:beta Quadrant races and cultures category:gamma Quadrant races and cultures category:humanoid species category:ancient cultures